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Saturday, February 4, 2012

CW's "Beauty and the Beast" Remake Links the Beast's Origins to 9/11

I haven't posted on either Beauty and the Beast TV series development yet and don't have time to comment on them right now (apart from telling you I have a lot of anticipation and am trying to think positive in seeing how these develop), so I'll send you straight to the details:

Last week, we learned that there were currently two Beauty and The Beast TV pilots in development. One at ABC, which focuses on the fantasyland aspect of the fairy tale. And the second at CW, which was supposedly much more similar to the 1980s series, starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.

Now before we get into The CW’s reboot, here’s the plot of the original 1987 series’s pilot :

Wealthy socialite Catherine Chandler works for her father’s firm as a corporate attorney in NYC. Leaving a party unescorted, she is mistaken for someone else. She is shoved into a van where her face is slashed as a warning to keep her mouth shut. Dumped in Central Park she is found by Vincent, a man-beast, who takes her to his home in the forgotten tunnels beneath the city streets. During her 10 days of recovery, Vincent discovers that he has developed an empathic bond with her. He returns her to the world above where Catherine immediately changes her life. She repairs the damage to her face, takes self-defense classes and quits her father’s firm to work as an investigator at the DA’s office. Eight months later she is looking into her own assault. Nearing the end of the investigation, she is again threatened and attacked. Vincent, feeling her fear through the bond, arrives just in time to save her. They realize that they are now a part of each other but each must return to their own worlds.(Source : ClassicAlliance.Net)

Here’s what you need to know about “Beauty & The Beast” 2012 :

A. How do Catherine and Vincent meet?

Well, they first meet when she’s younger. When Catherine’s mother was killed in a car-jacking (or whatever it was – Catherine’s never been convinced it was a simple car-jacking) Vincent was the one who snatched the young girl and saved her from the same fate. As the newspapers tell us, Catherine claimed ‘the beast’ saved her but nobody has laid eyes on him since.

Years later, they’ll meet again under different circumstances. Catherine is now a feisty, slightly troubled (She can’t keep a relationship; struggles with her mother’s passing) New York City cop who comes across Vincent, the beast, at an old abandoned chemical warehouse.She’s there to speak to a man named TJ, whose car was spotted at a crime scene nights before — a young woman was poisoned. Dead. T.J isn’t there, but instead, she speaks to his ‘roomie’… who remains shrouded in shadows for the most part.

Catherine is alarmed to discover her ‘Beast’ – the one that saved her as a youngster -is the one behind the shadow. She is taken back by Vincent – once he emerges from the shadows – but despite his features, trusts him when he declares he and his friend did not hurt the girl, but only tried to help her (just as he had done numerous other times; Vincent’s become sort-of like a local ‘Batman’ to the people). At his request, Catherine promises not to let anyone know his whereabouts, let alone that he’s alive.

B. What’s Vincent’s story?

Vincent worked as a doctor at the New York University hospital – and was working On September 11, 2001 when the towers came down.

Long story short, a wounded Vincent ends up in a medical clinic where he’s injected with a DNA-changing drug. The drug turns him into an unstoppable soldier type that is used in Afghanistan. Think ‘Captain America’ or a ‘Universal Soldier’. Unfortunately, the strength and stamina comes with a price…it also changes Vincent’s look — in particular, hair sprouts hair everywhere.

When he returned from Afghanistan, looking like he is, he hid himself away- – with the help of T.J.

There's a lot more information on the 2012 series version at MovieHole too. Just click HERE to read all the details.

And I agree with MH's "Caffeinated" Clint. With these kinds of details added to the original premise, this TV series is going to be made or broken on two things: a) the actor choices and b) the writing - as in, it better be really, really good. If it is, optimists are saying, this revamped series may just give CW it's new Buffy.

2 comments:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...STOP !!! A youngster can come up with a better storyline than this. It has to be more interesting than that, remember this is a love story. Maybe, you should considered bringing back Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman. You'll definitely get those ratings up.

It is done, it is a classic leave it alone. You can not try to "remake" a show like this. Ron is Vincent, Linda is Catherine. There are not replacements for them you seen what happened in the 80's when she left. Just show the reruns and let it be